Comcast wages bidding war with Fox for Sky

Comcast, the US-based media group, is aiming for the winning bid in the sale of Sky a European media and telecommunications broadcaster based in the UK.

Comcast

Comcast submitted a formal, $31 billion bid Wednesday, shown via the London Stock Exchange. The media corporation is now going head to head with Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox for control of the company.

Fox currently owns a 39.14 percent controlling stake in Sky, but Comcast's bid terms were apparently good enough to lead Sky to respond and formally withdraw its recommendation for the $16 billion Fox bid to secure the remaining 61 percent. Murdoch's son James Murdoch leads Sky, and Murdoch himself founded the company in the '90s. With all the family ties, Sky created a committee of independent directors to evaluate the offers.

Comcast's bid Wednesday threatens Murdoch's repeated attempts to win control of the broadcaster. A winning bid by Comcast would likely mean global expansion for the parent company of NBC, CNBC and MSNBC.